Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
The verse opens Paul's reply to matters the Corinthian church leaders had written to him, taken up after he had dealt with more important problems in the church, including vile practices that had been concealed from him and that he learned of from other sources. The questions it begins to answer concern home relations, covering three parts of the marriage question: whether it is best to marry in the church, whether believers may separate from unbelieving partners, and the duty of fathers and guardians in giving their daughters, wards, or other virgins in marriage. In the verse, touching a woman means being joined to her in marriage. Remaining unmarried, as Paul did, can be good when hardship, present distress, persecution, and uncertainty would make marriage an added responsibility and burden, so that it is wise to take on no more responsibilities than necessary; this is advice and not a command for everyone to remain unmarried, and it does not forbid marriage, require celibacy, or reject marriage, since marriage is good and honorable. This teaching perplexed the Corinthian church and still perplexes many today, and it has been abused by careless misreading as if it allowed shameful conduct contrary to Paul's consistent teaching and the whole Bible; it must be read with knowledge of the customs of that time and the difficult position of the church surrounded by heathenism and persecution, and then it gives a most valuable lesson.
The verse begins carrying consecration before God into married life, a consecration especially needed then because of the customs of the heathen on every side and needed now because of the tendency to looseness on all moral questions. The passage beginning with this verse shows that keeping the commandments of God is something of value, for they are not nothing and are not abolished. Its teaching on marriage explains a wife's reverence for her husband as fear in the sense of being in subjection to him and regarding him as head, while putting duty to God first and yet not stirring up strife at home.
For a believing wife with an unconverted husband, the chapter teaches that she cannot be a conscience for her husband and cannot compel him to obey in her place, because obedience is of the heart though the principle in the heart determines the act. Therefore when loyalty compels her to prepare meat, tea, coffee, and other indulgences she knows are contrary to health and purity, her spirit of self-sacrifice and loyalty is accepted of God, and what would be sin if done for herself is counted as obedience and righteousness because her heart is true. As part of the chapter's plain teaching about marriage, the verse guides against selfishly yielding to appetite in the marriage relationship and calls for restraint and for bringing children into the world only under proper conditions for their care, education, and preparation for immortality.
The verse opens Paul's reply to matters the Corinthian church leaders had written to him, taken up after he had dealt with more important problems in the church, including vile practices that had been concealed from him and that he learned of from other sources. The questions it begins to answer concern home relations, covering three parts of the marriage question: whether it is best to marry in the church, whether believers may separate from unbelieving partners, and the duty of fathers and guardians in giving their daughters, wards, or other virgins in marriage. In the verse, touching a woman means being joined to her in marriage. Remaining unmarried, as Paul did, can be good when hardship, present distress, persecution, and uncertainty would make marriage an added responsibility and burden, so that it is wise to take on no more responsibilities than necessary; this is advice and not a command for everyone to remain unmarried, and it does not forbid marriage, require celibacy, or reject marriage, since marriage is good and honorable. This teaching perplexed the Corinthian church and still perplexes many today, and it has been abused by careless misreading as if it allowed shameful conduct contrary to Paul's consistent teaching and the whole Bible; it must be read with knowledge of the customs of that time and the difficult position of the church surrounded by heathenism and persecution, and then it gives a most valuable lesson.
The verse begins carrying consecration before God into married life, a consecration especially needed then because of the customs of the heathen on every side and needed now because of the tendency to looseness on all moral questions. The passage beginning with this verse shows that keeping the commandments of God is something of value, for they are not nothing and are not abolished. Its teaching on marriage explains a wife's reverence for her husband as fear in the sense of being in subjection to him and regarding him as head, while putting duty to God first and yet not stirring up strife at home.
For a believing wife with an unconverted husband, the chapter teaches that she cannot be a conscience for her husband and cannot compel him to obey in her place, because obedience is of the heart though the principle in the heart determines the act. Therefore when loyalty compels her to prepare meat, tea, coffee, and other indulgences she knows are contrary to health and purity, her spirit of self-sacrifice and loyalty is accepted of God, and what would be sin if done for herself is counted as obedience and righteousness because her heart is true. As part of the chapter's plain teaching about marriage, the verse guides against selfishly yielding to appetite in the marriage relationship and calls for restraint and for bringing children into the world only under proper conditions for their care, education, and preparation for immortality.